LOTTERY NEWS

For many months I kept looking at the two small irritable patches on my arm. One was bigger than the other.

And I kept on thinking about my teenage years when the fierce southern hemisphere sun beat down on my fair skin.

Sometimes I got brown - the ultimate fit-in cool factor back in the days when cooking your skin was fashionable. But many times I got severely burnt...and put up with it because the popular thinking back then was 'no pain, no gain.' After the peeling it always looked better.

And as I looked at these two small raised and crusty marks each about the size of a grain of rice, I decided to do something about them.

So I went to Dr Google. Oh yeah, sensible choice.

According to the charts and photos there, I was OK. No cancer melanoma. Whew.

But a year later one had gotten a little larger, and the other stayed the same.

So I did do something about it, reluctantly, at a dermatology clinic. Sitting, waiting, while mothers fussed over their kids, and men my age sat resignedly. Then reassurance. It turns out the growing patch was benign.

And the other one - the stable patch I wasn't at all concerned about - was cancerous.

Ah, I know nothing. My zero time at medical school should have pointed that fact out to me. And I now have a small pea sized red spot after surgery on my forearm to remind me how I really got it wrong.

I learned something else. The doctor said I have to use an SPF30 sun block on my exposed face and hands for the rest of my life.

Back to Google. And much confusion. There's a lot to know about a simple sunblock.

So two days ago while my wife and I were at the airport farewelling one of our daughters (that's another story for later), I dropped in to an upmarket skin care store at the terminal.

My wife later said it was the oddest sensation she had experienced in our 3 decades of marriage, sitting at the counter watching me get slathered with moisturizer while the skincare girl tried different products on me.

I was a little fearful though.

My fear was embarrassment. My fear was ending up like Australian cricket legend Shane Warne, going through the cosmetic transformational stages as he used girlfriend Liz Hurley's skin care products. He looks a bit weird now, like a plasticized Ken & Barbie doll.

Mmmm, name of Ken.

But needs must, so a couple of days later here I am with a much smoother looking face. And hopefully I'm also protected against the ravages of nature. Two benefits for the price of two...because I needed 2 products to get what I needed.

What I did in my search for healing was quite rare for me, a self confessed Mr Independent. Because, for the first time I took advice from experts. Sure, I get experts to connect plumbing, install showers and lay tiles. But a lot of personal stuff I prefer to self-diagnose. I know best. Working on bowel cancer next :)

But as it turns out, I know less than I think - even with the mass of knowledge available out there online. The mighty might of the google universe didn't help me.

I had to visit experts.

If you try and figure out your own lottery numbers, you run a similar risk. Many people have their favorite methods, often determined by fate and superstition... birthdays, diagonals, odd and even randoms, hot and cold numbers (the biggest scam in the history of lottery number-crunching), and many many more.

You know nothing.

I often tell people the story of the dutiful wife who cuts the weekly roast in half before putting it in the oven. Asked why she did it, she didn't know...it was something her own mother did. After some thoughtful probing, she discovered that her mom had a small oven and the standard sized roast wouldn't fit. So she cut it in half, and her daughter slavishly followed the practise without questioning why.

That's why you need experts to cut through the info-clutter in lotto. You'll come across a few lottery systems if you look long enough. Most are bogus. Some are direct copies of mine. All are confusing. Because numbers can be manipulated to mean anything. Here's what I suggest.

You need to do 2 things to choose a system:

1. Find a system that shows results, and which...

2. ...has an expert founder you can trust, and who looks a bit like Clint Eastwood (I actually had someone say that, in a music shop I visited. I was growing a goatee...long gone now... and with my shortsighted eyes squinting - he said with genuine amazement, "You look exactly like Clint Eastwood!" I'm almost sure he wasn't trying to sell me anything).

I'll shortcut the process for you...trust comes with knowledge and longevity. My 20 years of success in the lottery tells you that quite quickly.

And the hundreds of testimonials at my blog here: /winners, will help you confirm your results decision, as should Ron's here:

--- Hi Ken; I bought your system ... after several months of receiving your tips. I read your instructions and took my time creating my profiles. I followed your advice and play the best odds game of 5 of 35. My first play was only 5 picks from my profile 1. Nothing. I then followed the draws for several weeks checking if I would have won anything. Nothing. Then saved until I could play at least the 35 picks ($35) of profile 1. I won ten dollars. Well that was good. Saved again, reinvested that $10 into playing all of profile 1 again. I WON $100,000!!!!!! on my second try. Your system works and your tips are very important to follow. I'm continuing to play and expect to win again. I'll write again when I do. Thanks for a system that works. Regards, Ron Rlp*****@yahoo.com ---

Now I'm off to pick up my daughter at the airport, back from her weekend away. I'll tell you about it sometime when I hear from her about the experience.

In the meantime, follow these 3 simple steps to get your lottery game going - like the true winning expert you'll become: